As the 2026 election cycle begins, an unusually large number of Colorado lawmakers — many appointed through the vacancy process — are facing primary challenges that reflect deepening divisions within both major parties.

The stakes for the 2026 election and legislative session are enormous and the outcomes will determine Colorado's future political landscape. State of play: Here are five storylines we're watching. 1.

Former U.S. Rep. Greg Lopez, a candidate for governor of Colorado, has left the Republican Party and plans to run as an unaffiliated candidate for the office held by term-limited Democratic Gov. Jared Polis.

The $95 million a year voters approved when they passed Proposition MM in November is expected to generate enough to fund the Health School Meals for All program. But it might still go back to the ballot.

Every single seat in the Colorado House of Representatives and about half of seats in the Colorado Senate will be on the ballot this year. Democrats have controlled both chambers of the state Legislature since 2019.

There seems to be an opening for Republicans,” one former party chairman said. “But that opening will only exist if we have candidates who won’t get pulled into this

Peters was convicted of state crimes for orchestrating a data breach scheme driven by false claims about voting machine fraud in the 2020 presidential race.

Tina Peters, the former Colorado elections clerk who has been at the center of a political fight between President Trump and Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D), is asking a state appeals court to

Five years after a crowd of President Donald Trump's supporters descended on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, to protest Congress confirming President Joe Biden's 2020 election victory, several members of Colorado's congressional delegation who were in the building are reflecting on that day.